FutuStories – Rudolf Poels

What do you do at Futurice?

My official title is Lead Technologist. It’s nice and vague. So far, it’s a lot of hands-on development, and the idea is also to do some tech advisory work once suitable projects come in. Everything up to and including tech strategies, but I’d like to concentrate on finding the best ways to do things when it comes to technologies and also ways of working. I think it’s important for people to feel good about working.

What would you like to accomplish in your professional life?

One of my continuous goals is to always work in a team that is as much fun as possible and make sure as many people as possible have the same opportunity. One very personal goal I have is being able to talk on stage about how we managed to make a success out of a project in terms of results and the way the team worked together. I want to communicate about these things as far and wide as possible on a grassroots level. It has the potential to make the world a better place and helps my continuous goal along nicely!

What inspires you at work?

Saying it’s the people you work with is a standard answer here, isn’t it? But it’s especially true at Futurice and one reason I returned. I get to work with people from such varied backgrounds, and we work in multidisciplinary teams with such varied expertise areas, so during my first time here, I felt like I was learning so much all the time. And it’s happening again.

What should be said out loud more often?

We don’t talk enough about supporting people's growth into senior experts. Now that business is picking up a bit in tech consulting, everyone wants to hire people with twenty years under their belt. I know people who want to work and grow but have a hard time getting an interview. I, on the other hand, get twenty calls a day from headhunters.

In football, some of the big stars come up through the junior teams of the same organizations where they become global stars. Consulting is an excellent platform for growing experts who know a lot about many things and have a more holistic approach. We’re too busy looking for the easier win. It’s a shame. I think it’s an area of resilience we are not paying enough attention to as an industry. We might be shooting ourselves in the foot a bit.

What do you most enjoy in your free time?

In addition to returning to Futurice, I’ve also returned to an old hobby, tae kwon do. My child became interested in it, so I was inspired to take it up again. And learning Japanese is a long-term project. I want to read Haruki Murakami’s books in the original language.

What did the world look like outside Futurice, and what drew you back?

It’s an interesting process. So, the last time at Futurice, I had the opportunity to get into coaching leadership and helping organizations work better. Doing it gave me a lot of valuable skills and tools I used successfully as a leader of a very international and diverse team at my next job. I was able to help build good processes and ways of working and a successful product.

Maybe my twenty years in consulting had a hand in the fact that my first feeling at this point was, “OK. What’s next? Let’s do something new.” That’s not the way it works in the product business. You must work on scaling and tweaking the product but avoid significant changes. As a leader, you have two choices: either set goals and let your team reach them, in which case there’s very little for you to do, or you can start micromanaging everyone’s work. The latter is impossible for me, so it was more hands-off at that point.

Consulting started to look attractive again. The projects are shorter, and you can move on to new challenges in new projects or development initiatives. Sometimes, I wonder if I enjoy this or if my career has conditioned me to it.

At Futurice, we celebrate diversity and cherish everyone's unique journey. Are you interested in reading more stories about us and our people? Check out our Careers page for insights into our culture. If you want to work at Futurice, check out our open positions.